Friend asked for help - Throwing it to the forums

S

semisonic9

Gawd
Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
769
Hey folks! A friend of mine asked for my help recently. He wants to update his old build and is curious what some options are.

This is mostly for gaming. However, I don't think he's into anything with really cutting edge graphics. So a good, higher-end but not "zomg" video card is the way to go for him.

His post:
Background: I built this comp about 4 years ago. Mistakes I made then: AMD processor that runs flippin' hot. I have a decent heatsink, but it still gets pretty hot regardless. I can't keep the case on because it will just hit 65 celsius and just auto shut down. Two, I have a small case, so the power supply sat literally on top of the heatsink with like... 1/4 inch breathing room. This was part of the cooling problem and I simply had to take the power supply out of it's holding spot on the frame and it's just resting on top of the case. Three, I probably should have spent a few more bucks. I didn't have as much extra cash on hand as I do at the moment.

Current relevant specs:
AMD 64x2 Dual Core 3600+
3g RAM (3 sticks of 1gig)
NVidia GeForce 7300 LE
585watt max power supply

Things I don't need: Monitor, keyboard, mouse.
Things I do need: DVD drive, larger case, decent size hd

HOW MUCH CAN I SPEND?

Well keep in mind what I can and cannot cannibalize and tell me what you would buy for the following budgets:

$500
$750
$1000

Link to New Egg, Tiger Direct, or wherever else you would buy the parts from - or hell if you see a good deal on a full system, let's check that out as well.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking $750 is probably the sweet spot for a new case, vid card, mobo, CPU, and some RAM. Let's aim for around that neighborhood.

~S
 
I would check out a Microcenter, if there's one close to you. Easier then running around Newegg, and troubleshooting if something goes wrong. Just take it back. ;)

$759.99 - The Video Card isn't very good, but the rest fits the bill. Hp Pavilion Elite HPE-110f

$799.99 - Video Card still isn't very good, and if you go to upgrade it, you'll need a better power supply. HP Pavilion Elite HPE-204f
---

This fits everything your asking for, only problem is it's $1000.

PowerSpec G190 Phenom II X6 Processor 1090T (6 core, 3.2 Ghz), 4 gigs DDR3, 1 TB HDD, 5750 video card.


Never bought a PowerSpec computer. I believe they are made by Microcenter or something.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll pass them along.

He's probably more of a do-it-yourself guy, though. He doesn't want to buy an OS or new hard drives. I think he's very interested in making sure he gets a good case this go-round. To me that means he's probably going to end up just ordering parts.
 
It would help a bit more if your friend could answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST" so that we can help him better.

Is that RAM is DDR2 or something? That might shave off $50 to $100 off the total rebuild price. Besides the possibility of the RAM, HDDs, and OS (we'll know for sure once he answer the stickied), nothing in that setup can be reused in another PC. He's looking at a new CPU, mobo, RAM (possibly), GPU, PSU, and case at the very least. I've yet to see a good quality 585W PSU in existence so more than likely that PSU is unsuitable for modern PC parts.
 
if you could find out exactly what PSU he has you can probably scratch that off the list of things needed to buy.. budget wise and depending on what games he plays.. a phenom II x2 555, athlon II x4 620, or phenom II x3 720 would be good choices.. slap in a 790GX board and maybe a GTS 250 or ATI 5770 and he should be good..

heres just an idea that you could use as a guide..
AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Heka 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor - OEM $99
GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $129 (there was only like a 20 dollar difference between the 790GX and 890GX am3 boards)
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM $108
XFX GS250XYDFC GeForce GTS 250 512MB Core Edition 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card $140 (you can find these far cheaper second hand i would not buy this card brand new)
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply $80 after 10 dollar MIR
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $75
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $100

total: $731 (i left the case out since in my opinion thats a personal preference item and most stuff i like no one else likes)

this is the maximum you would really need to spend.. you could probably save 50-60 dollars by going with an AM2+ board and DDR2 ram.. this setup gives more upgrade-ability in the future with the extra cost though.. but like i said i would not pay retail for any card lower then say a GTX 285.. theres so many second hand GTS 250's(9800GTX+)/GTX 260's for sale right now that paying retail would just be stupid..

but like i said thats just an idea of what you could build within that budget.. but you could definitely go cheaper.. the 3 processors i recommended are all about the same price.. give or take 3 to 4 dollars..
 
well I Guess ignoreing the problem 7 replacing the parts might fix it. But as far as I can tell he has a 65w cpu now. If he is doing all this to cool off the CPU then he could probably just reseat the cooler or get an after-market cooler & it should cool things down. Now if he is using this as justification to his wife on the other-hand then yea that things toast & build from scratch.

Build wise:

Mobo & CPU Combo 214
Video & Ram Combo 267
PSU 70
Hard Drive 55
Case 55

Total 661 So Room to add a 2nd hard drive if he needs it or even take a step up to a 5830 video card maybe. Although that would break the combo with memory so that would have to be added seporately & would then go above budget a little bit, but not a whole lot.
 
I like bastage's build, but with this case instead:

$80 - Cooler Master RC-690 Black ATX Mid Tower

I know... cases are personal preference. :p Is your friend near a Fry's or MC?
 
My bad. I haven't posted here in awhile, and totally forgot about the sticky etiquette.

I'll have him answer those questions and get back to us.

~S
 
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